A little over a year ago, I sat with Brad Oberhofer upstairs at Brillobox and talked to him about finding a record label that was right for his music. His solo bedroom recordings of songs like “Away FRM U,” “I Could Go,” and “o0Oo0Oo” had translated into a growing legion of fans, national tours, and proposals from numerous labels keen on putting out an album of Oberhofer’s energetic, irresistible indie pop.
I thought
he needed to find a label wouldn’t resort to needless overproduction of his raw
sound. I offered Mumford and Sons as an example of a band that hit just the
right note of a clean-sounding, professional recording. Brad broke into a smile.
He had already spoken with some people at Glassnote (Mumford’s label, along
with Phoenix, Two Door Cinema Club, and others). He was really hoping a deal with
them would work out. It did.
In
March, Oberhofer’s first full-length, Time
Capsules II, was released on Glassnote. I spoke with Brad around that time
as he and his bandmates (Matt Scheiner - guitar, Pete Sustarsic - drums, and
Ben Roth - bass) were finishing up their second consecutive appearance at the
SXSW festival. “I’m having the time of my life,” he said. The band was riding
bikes around town and playing shows left and right.
For
the album, Oberhofer snagged veteran producer Steve Lillywhite and spent twelve
days on the album. They re-recorded many of the songs which had first garnered
Oberhofer attention in the blogosphere. Several of the song versions on the album
sound different from the early recordings. There are several reasons for the
transformations of these songs which the band had played live and tinkered with
for much of the past year. “Nothing is better than live instruments,” Brad explains.
When he made the initial recordings, he played all the instruments on his own
and used computer programs to fill in sounds. In the studio, he was able to
bring in the full band, along with guest musicians on flute, cello, oboe, and
various other percussion instruments. The result is a more lush, fuller sound—a
step away from the intimacy of his earlier sound and toward something grander.
The
reviews for Time Capsules II have
been mixed, but it doesn’t bother Brad. Believe it or not, he thinks it’s great
that people either love the album or hate it. I’ve spoken to Brad several times
now about his music and his relationship to his audience, and he is nothing if
not a consummate artist. He definitely sees his music as art, and believes that
people should have varying opinions and relationships to all art. The album has
catapulted the group to a new level of public appeal and mainstream press.
Recently, the band had their
late-night debut of “Away FRM U” on the Late Show with David Letterman. They
are in the midst of a US and UK tour for the new album. A few weeks ago, they
also debuted an official video for “Away FRM U” It isn’t the first video they
recorded, but it is the first video that Brad liked enough to release. He said
he actively took part in the process. “I wanted to be really involved. I said,
this video needs to have a lot of live footage, it needs to be energetic. I was
really specific in what I wanted with the video. I talked to the directors and
the editors, and I was very specific with detailed notes of what I wanted changed,
or put in or taken out.” The result is a wild, flashingly colorful piece you
can see below.
In the studio, some songs
came easier than others. The recording of “Gold” was a breeze, Brad told me. “We'd
been touring with Gold for a long time, and just playing it so much. And I love
the way the band plays it. We just did that one. I think our second take was
the one we kept. And there was very little editing on that. I recorded a ton of
vocal harmonies at the end and they came together. Easily. It was really smooth.”
“I
Could Go,” one of his best known songs, was a more difficult song to get right.
The interlude just didn’t satisfy Brad. “I had to sit and think about it for a
long time. I was like, man, this needs flute trills. This needs a choir. This
needs a little bit of brass. And this need marimba rolls.” Now, Brad feels that
they “made that interlude as awesome as it could be.”
At 20 years of age, Brad placed his college education on hold to pursue his music.
When I talked to him last year, I asked him if he thought it was going to work
out. It has to, he told me. I really think the songs we have are so good, it
has to work. In a surprising way, Brad has compared the studio recording
experience to the experience of playing live shows. He says both are snapshots
of a moment in time. This came into focus in another interview Brad gave where
he revealed that, despite the joyful feel of the album, he was in somewhat of a
dark place during the recording. I believe this album’s songs are just as good
as Brad does, and that this should be the beginning of a strong career for
Oberhofer.
One
thing I am certain of—having seen Oberhofer live four times now—is that he has
one of the best live shows going. Love the album or hate it, when Brad and the
band feel right, they play damn good music. And nothing makes Brad happier at
the moment than playing a good show.
--Daniel Hammer
Catch
Oberhofer live next week at The Warhol on Tuesday, March 1 at 8pm. Tickets here.
Also, we have a pair of tickets to
giveaway to the show. Just email us with your name to pghmusicreport@gmail.com to enter.
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